In many ways, Black Flag was the definitive Los Angeles hardcore punk band. Although their music
flirtedwithheavymetalandexperimentalnoise and jazz more than that of most hardcore bands, they defined the image
andtheaesthetic.Throughtheir ceaselesstouring, the bandcultivated the American underground punk scene; every year,BlackFlag played in
everyarea of theU.S., influencingcountless numbers ofbands. Although their recording career washamperedby a draining lawsuit,which was
followed by aseemingly endlessstream of independentlyreleased records,the band wasunquestionably one of themost influ ...read more

In many ways, Black Flag was the definitive Los Angeles hardcore punk band. Although their music
flirtedwithheavymetalandexperimentalnoise and jazz more than that of most hardcore bands, they defined the image
andtheaesthetic.Throughtheir ceaselesstouring, the bandcultivated the American underground punk scene; every year,BlackFlag played in
everyarea of theU.S., influencingcountless numbers ofbands. Although their recording career washamperedby a draining lawsuit,which was
followed by aseemingly endlessstream of independentlyreleased records,the band wasunquestionably one of themost influential American
post-punkbands. A full decadeand a half before thefusionof punk andmetal became popular, BlackFlag created a ferocious, edgy, and ironic
amalgamofundergroundaesthetics and gut-poundingmetal.Their lyrics alluded tosocial criticism and a political viewpoint, but itwas all
conveyed asseething,cynical angst,which was occasionallyveryfunny. Furthermore, Black Flag demonstratedan affection for bohemia -- both
in termsofmusicalexperimentation and afondness forpoetry -- that reiterated theband's underground roots and prevented it frombecoming
nothingbut aheavymetal group. And it didn't matterwhowas in the band -- throughout the years, the lineupchanged numerous times -.
becausetheBlack Flag name and four-bar logo becamepunk institutions.

Black Flag was formed in 1977 by guitarist Greg Ginn, a graduate of UCLA. Ginn formed the band with
bassistChuckDukowski;thepairsoonadded drummer Brian Migdol and vocalist Keith Morris. At the same time, Ginn andDukowskiformed
anindependent record label,SST,whichreleased the band's first EP, Nervous Breakdown, in 1978. MorrisandMigdol departedthe following year
-- Morris went on to formtheCircleJerks -- and they were respectively replacedwithChavo Pederast andRobo. By the release of 1980's Jealous
Again, Black Flaghadbegun totour the U.S.relentlessly,building up a small, butdedicated, following of fans. After the release of Jealous Again,
Pederast leftthegroupandwasreplaced by Dez Cadena.However, Cadena preferred to play guitar, and his transition to that instrument
in1981gavethegroup a heaviersound; hisreplacement on vocals was Henry Rollins, a Washington, D.C., fan who jumped on-stageto sing
withthe bandduring a NewYorkperformance.

Early in 1981, Black Flag signed a record contract with Unicorn Records, a subsidiary of MCA. The band deliveredtheirfirstfull.
lengthalbum,Damaged, to Unicorn; the label refused to release the record, citing the content of the musicastoodangerous
andvulgar.Undaunted, Ginnreleased the album on his own SST Records. Upon its release, thealbumreceivedconsiderable critical acclaim.
Soonafterit appeared on theshelves, Unicorn sued Black Flag and SST overtherelease ofDamaged. For the next two years, the band
waspreventedfrom using the nameBlack Flag or their logo onanyrecords.During that time, the group continued to tour, and
surreptitiouslyreleasedEverything Went Black,adouble-albumretrospective that contained no mention of the band, although it listed the
names of themembers onthefront cover.Thedisputeended in 1983, when Unicorn went bankrupt and the rights to the Black Flag name and
logorevertedback totheband(by this time, Cadena hadleft to form his own group).

As if to make up for lost time, Black Flag became impossibly prolific when it returned to recording in 1984. A newversionofthe group -.
featuring Ginn on guitar and bass (the latter was credited to the pseudonym Dale Nixon),Rollins, anddrummer BillStevenson -.
recordedthealbums My War and Family Man. After those two albums wererecorded, the groupadded bassistKira Roessler and cut Slip It In,
itsthirdofficialalbum of 1984. In addition to thosethree albums, Black Flagreleased thecassette-only Live '84 and the compilation The
FirstFourYears in1984, as well asreissuing Everything WentBlack with all theproper credits restored. The group's touring and recording
pacedidn'tslowin 1985;they released threerecords: Loose Nut,The Process of Weeding Out, and In My Head. By the end of
theyear,AnthonyMartinezreplacedStevenson on drums.

After Black Flag released the live album Who's Got the 10½? in early 1986, Greg Ginn broke up the band.
Ginnrecordedtwoalbumswiththemore experimental Gone, but he primarily concentrated on running SST Records, whichhad become oneof
themostimportantAmericanindependent labels of the era. By the time Black Flag broke up, SSThad already releasedalbums bysuch bands as
HüskerDü,theMinutemen, Meat Puppets, and Sonic Youth. For most ofthe late '80s, Ginn retiredfromperforming, choosing to
operateSSTRecordsinstead; during this time, the labelreleased the first recordings from bandslikeSoundgarden, Dinosaur Jr., and
ScreamingTrees.Ginnreturned to musicin 1993, releasing a solo album on his newrecordlabel, Cruz.

Following Black Flag's breakup, Henry Rollins formed the Rollins Band. For the rest of the '80s, he released
musicrecordedwiththeRollinsBandon a variety of independent labels, as well as solo spoken-word recordings. In the early'90s,
Rollinsbecameone of themostrecognizablefigures of alternative music. « hide